Differential gear.



No. 876,501. PATENTED- JAN. 14, 1908.

P. STBINHAUBR.

DIFFERENTIAL GEAR.

APPYLIGATION FILED JULY 15. 1907.

INVENIOR Peir Jim/must ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT onrron PETER STEINHAUER, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

DIFFERENTIAL GEAR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

' "Patented Jan. 14,1908.

Application filed July 15,1907. Serial N0. 383.823-

My invention has relation to] improve ments in differential gear for self-propelled vehicles or automobiles and it consists in the novel construction and arrangement of parts more fully set forth in the specification and pointed out in the'claims.

' In the drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal middle section taken through the gearing,

' the shaft being in elevation; Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section on the line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section on line 3-3 of Fi 1, a part of the wall of the inner plate or dis r being broken away; and Fig. 4 is an inner face View in perspective of the plate carrying the pinions.

The object of my invention is to provide selfpropelled vehicles with a differential gear which will carefully and accurately adjust the velocity of the wheels to the actual distan ce traveled thereby when turning a corner or when the travel of the vehicle is deflected from a direct or straight course. In such event no slipping of the inside wheel can take place, and steering of the vehicle can'be controlled to a nicety and with precision; besides no lost motion can be sustained by either wheel.

In detail the invention may be described as follows: 7

Referring to the drawings, S, represents the shaft of either the front or rear trucks on the ends of which the wheels \V, W, are loosely mounted, the hub II, ll, of each wheel being of prevailing construction.

Passed loosely over the shaft is a sleeve 1, to

which rotation is imparted by the sprocket wheel 2 keyed thereto, and driven from any disk 3, and bolted or screwed to the latter,

the ring and throu h the screw threaded sockets 9 formedat t e middle of each rib-,7. Keyed to the shaft S adjacent to the disk 3, and between the latter and the wheel W is a gear wheel 10 with the teeth of which the .55 the securing screws 8 being passed through pinions 4 mesh; and carried by the Wheel is a 1 plate or member 11 having a marginal interiorly toothed flange orrim 12 spanning and engaging the pinions 4, and overlapping the edge of the disk 3.

Referring to the left-hand wheel W, the

said wheel has secured thereto a similar. member or plate 11. having an interiorly toothed flange 0r rim 12, the teeth of the latter meshing with the pinions 4 disposed along the inner face of a disk 3 likewise keyed to the sleeve 1, the studs 5 of the pinions having their ends carried respectively by said disk 3 and by the annular ring 6 secured at intervals to the ribs 7 cast with the disk 3 and bolted or screwed to the latter, the securing screws 8 being passed through the ring and through the screw-threaded sockets 9 formed at the middle of each rib 7. Keyed to the shaft S adjacent to thedisk 3, and between the latter and the wheel W is a gear wheel 10 with the teeth of which mesh the pinions 4", the latter likewise meshing with the pinions 4 and being mounted on studs 5 carried by the disk 3 and ring 6 respectively. The pinions 4, 4 are not disposed in the same radial line from the axis of the shaft, their centers of rotation being on distinct radial lines diverging from a common center (axis of the shafts) and being at different radial distances from such center (Fig. 2). The purpose of this arrangement is to preserve as nearly as possiblean equality or the same relation in the diameters between said pinions and gear wheel 10 as exists between the pinions 4 and gear wheel 10, thereby reducing the friction between the. inter-. meshing gears, and at the same time to secure simultaneous contrary rotations at equal speeds for the wheels W, and W when the shaft S is deflected to permit the vehicle to turn from a direct line of travel. This equality in the speeds between the arts referred to of course flows from the act that the gears 10, and 10 and disks 3, 3 are res ectively secured to the shafts and to the s eeve 1, it being obvious that any given veopposite end, a corresponding velocity being locliialy imparted to the, shaft atone end as a res t of any acceleration of the wheel at that end, wil be imparted to the shaft at the imparted to the wheel at such opposite end in the opposite direction; The. operation of the device may be described as follows: Motion being imparted to the sleeve 1 in a direction corresponding to that of the hands of a watch with reference to the wheel W in Fig. 3, andthe vehicle traveling in a straight or a direct .line, itfollows' that as the disk 3 is keyed to the sleeve and the pinions 4 thereof are in simultaneous mesh with the gear-10 and the interiorly toothed fiange 12, and are virtually locked against independent rotation about their own axes, the will simply can the parts 10 and 12 b0 -ly with them as t e .disk 3 revolves ,and thus revolve the gear 10 and wheel .W in the same direction. This means that the shaft S.

will-revolve in the direction of the hands of a vw-atch. Assuming this to be the case, and

looking now at Fig. 2, the sleeve 1 and shaft S having the corresponding parts 3 and 10, keyed respectively thereto, andthe pinions 4, 4 interlocked with'the teeth of the flange I 12 and the gear 10, it follows that'the ro'-,

tation of the parts on this end. will correspond in direction with the corresponding "arts on the pp posite end of'the shaft, and bot wheels 1 direction (see arrow Fig. 3).

influence on the shafts rotation is of course where it has the following effect: The shaft.

, tending now to revolve contrary to the hands W, v will rotate in the same direction and at the same rate of speed. Sup ose however, that the chaufieur or driver. eflects the shaft in a direction so' as to steer the vehicle around a-corn'er, and that the wheel W ha pens (by way of exam 1e) to be the outsi e" wheel which is obli' e( to swin around the outer-circle of the ve 'cles trave This sudden deflection of the shaft imparts an inde-- endeht motion of rotation to the wheel W in excess of that which it possessed when the vehicle traveled in a directline. ,in the rotation causes the wheel to gain on This excess the angular velocity of the disk 3 keyed to i the sleeve, and as to this excess the disk becomes for practical purposes stationary; and

under the circumstances and by virtue of the thus accelerated velocity of the wheel, the. 50 about their axes as shown by the arrows in gear 12 will impart a rotation to the pinions 4' Fig. 3, this rotation tending to retard the rotation of the shaft S, being that .the pinions in'such rotation tend to impel the gear 10 and 'shaft S to which it is keyed in theopposite This retarding communicated to the opposite end thereof i of a watch, the gear IOkeyed thereto will re- 'volve with it; the gear 10 tends to impart a direction to the inions 4 with the hands of a watch; the pimons 4" will tend to drive the pinions 4 contrary to this direction, and the to subserve.

inionsd will-tend to rotate the gear 12 and ence the wheel W to which it is secured likewise contrary to the direction of the hands of a watch, and therefore contrary to the direction of the 'wheel "W. As the wheel W is the inside wheel, and has accordingly the least distance to travel in turning a corner, its degree and. direction of rotation are thus controlled accordingjto the purpose it is If on the other hand. we let the wheel W: be the outside wheel, a similar result would affect the wheel W which would then become the inside wheel. That is, to

say, an acceleration of the Wheel W" would tend to accelerate the rotation of the gear 10, this acceleration being imparted to the gear 10 keyed to the shaft S at the opposite end; but an acceleration of the shaft S in the same direction would,owing to the in.-

terp'ositionof but a single pinion 4 between the gear 10, and 12, tend to revolve the gear 12 in the-opposite direction, and hence the wheel W to which said gear :12 was secured.

Theabove differential gear is, extremely sensitive, andthe wheels only run at the same velocity and in the same direction when the vehicle is traveling in a straight or direct line. The momentthe shaft isdeflect ed to turn a corner, orrto'the right or left of such a direct line, the wheel which is to be- 9 come the inside wheel is immediately affected in the manner indicated ;.1 that is to sayfits motion is retarded andin isome cases may even be reversed, since such reversal would be but natural considerin that for a sweep ing deflection of; ,th'ers aft the opposite 'ends of the; latter virtually-*oscillatesimultaneously in' opposite directions. I may of course avail myself-bfany equivalent constructions of the details here shown, and may in a measure depart therefrom without'in any wise efiecting the nature OF'SPlIIl) of my 111- vention Having described myinvention, what" I claim is:

1. A differential gear for vehicles compris-- ing a shaft, wheels loosely mounted at the op p osite ends thereof a'rotatable member encompassing the shaft betweenthe Wheel.s,-an. inner toothed gear carried by each wheel, a

gear wheel secured to the shaft adjacent-to each wheel, a series of pinions rotatable about their axes carried by the rotatable member adjacent to one ofthe wheels and meshing ing a shaft, wheels loosely mounted at the tan'ce'from the common center of said radial lines, said second series meshing with the first series of pinions and with the adjacent gear Wheel.se'cured to the shaft, substantially as set forth. v

2; A differential gear for vehicles comprisopposite ends thereof, a rotatable member encompassin the shaft between the wheels, an inner-toot ed gear carried'by each wheel,

a gear wheel secured to the shaft adjacent to each wheel, a series of rotatable pinions carriegl by the rotatable member adjacent to one of the Wheels and meshing with the gear wheel on the-shaftand with the gear on the Wheel, two series'of rotatable pinions disposed along radii diverging from a common center on the axis of rotation of the shaft, carried-by the rotatable member adjacent the opposite wheeland respectively meshing the one series with the other, and with-the gear wheel on the wheel and the gear wheel on the shaft, the parts operating substantially as set forth.

3. difierentlal gearfor vehicles comprising a'shaft, wheels loosely mounted at the opposite ends thereof, a rotatable sleeve en- ,compassing the shaft between the wheels, an

inner-toothed gear carried by each wheel, a

gear Wheel secured to the shaft adjacent to each wheel, a series of rotatable pinions car- Tied by the-sleeve adjacent to one of the I series with the other, and wit wheels and meshing with the gear wheel on the shaft and with the gear wheel on the wheel, two series of rotatable pinions disposed alongradii diverging from a common center on the axis of rotation of the shaft, carriedby the sleeve adjacent the opposite wheel and respectively. meshin the i. one the ear wheel onthe shaft and with the gear w eel on the-wheel, the parts operating substantially as set forth.

4. A differential gear for vehicles comprising a shaft, Wheelsloosely mounted thereon,

'and means for imparting rotation to the Wheels in reverse directions by a deflection of the vehicle in a direct line, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature,

in presence of two. witnesses.

, PETER STEINHAUERQ Witnesses:

EMIL STAREK,.

' Jos. A. MICHEL. 

